Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram (Greek: Τεκές Χαλά Σουλτάνας Tekés Chalá Soultánas; Turkish: Hala Sultan Tekkesi) is a Muslim shrine on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake, near Larnaca, Cyprus. Umm Haram (Turkish: Hala Sultan) was the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, a companion of the Prophet Muhammed.

Hala Sultan Tekke complex is composed of a mosque, mausoleum, minaret, cemetery, and living quarters for men and women. The term tekke (convent) applies to a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood, or tariqa, and may have referred to an earlier feature of the location. The present-day complex, open to all and not belonging to a single religious movement, lies in a serene setting on the shores of the Larnaca Salt Lake, which appears to be an important site also in prehistory. Hala Sultan Tekke is a listed Ancient Monument.

While being acknowledged as a holy site for Turkish Cypriot Muslims, the mosque has also been described by secular contemporary sources as being revered by all Muslims. In an assessment of the environmental and cultural assets of Cyprus, Professor George E. Bowen, a senior Fulbright scholar at the University of Tennessee, is quoted as referring to the Hala Sultan Tekke as the third holiest place for Muslims in the world. This view has been echoed by other sourcesincluding the United Nations Development Programme in Cyprus and the Cypriot administration's Department of Antiquities. Others describe the site as fourth most important in the Islamic world, after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. As a result of the site being located in the Greek non-Muslim sector of the divided island, pilgrimage visits to the site are infrequent.

In addition to interventions at the imperial level and by high-ranking administrators for the maintenance and development of the complex, during the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman-flagged ships would hang their flags at half mast when off the shores of Larnaca, and salute Hala Sultan with cannon shots.

Source: wikipedia.org